Gay Couple Told Other Diners “Uncomfortable” With Their Brief Valentine’s Day Kiss

A gay couple had a lousy Valentine’s Day dinner when the owner of the restaurant chided them for kissing in his “family-friendly” establishment.

Angus Reilly and Sam Anderson, students at the London School of Economics, were dining at the Mumbai Inn in Leicester, England. After exchanging gifts, the guys briefly kissed—and that’s when they found the owner, Andaz Rana, “standing over them” and telling them that another customer “was not comfortable” with their smooch.

Anderson, 20, told BBC News, “I was so shocked. Then we got up and left straight away.”

Afterward, a server who saw the interaction came out and apologized for the manager’s behavior, which she described as homophobic. She gave both Reilly and Anderson a hug.

“What so upset us was the intimidating way he went about it and the fact he referenced it was a ’family-friendly’ restaurant, as if being a gay couple is something that not is family friendly,” Anderson continued. “We did not feel comfortable in that restaurant—We did not feel wanted.”

Rana has since apologized, and claims he treats all of his customers equally. It was the other diners, who were apparently with their child, who said they were unhappy to be seated near a gay couple.

Of course, Rana’s apology may be more motivated by negative press: Since the story was shared online, commenters have taken to various social media platforms to warn eaters not to dine at the Mumbai Inn.

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Rana told BBC News he was “very upset” Reilly and Anderson shared their story on social media instead of talking to him in person.